Culture and history focus of annual John White Series

The Northwest Montana History Museum presents Montana's troubadour, an ethnohistorian, Salish artists and toolmakers and a naturalist with little-known tales of Glacier National Park as part of its John White Series. 

On Jan. 5, Jack Gladstone presents “C.M. Russell: Heritage and Legacy.” Gladstone is an award-winning musician and speaker who illustrates American Indian culture through a mosaic of music, lyric poetry, and spoken word narrative. 

C.M. Russell had deep ties to Glacier National Park and Northwest Montana  — and renowned performer Gladstone has deep ties to Russell. A citizen of the Blackfeet Nation, Gladstone descends from both indigenous American and immigrant European traditions, and uses this personal legacy, as well as his unique storytelling and songwriting skills, to build cultural bridges as “Montana’s Troubadour.” 

Russell’s works have always been a source of inspiration to Gladstone, especially his 1914 masterpiece oil painting, When the Land Belonged to God, which hangs in the Montana State Capitol. “The purest gift is not of gold,” Gladstone wrote in his song of the same name, “but in art that awakens the soul.” The song is Gladstone’s most cherished work, and inspired him to develop a program that explores the role Russell played in the portrayal of the West during the early 20th century. 

Gladstone’s multimedia event features images created by Russell that captured the “disappearing West,” and shares stories of the time Russell lived with the Blood Division of the Blackfeet Nation during the winter of 1888, under the leadership of Chief Red Crow, who was Gladstone’s great-great-grandfather. 

On Jan. 19, Sally Thompson will share “Northwest Montana Stories and How They Shape Our Lives.” Thompson, who has an academic background in anthropology and archaeology, prefers to call herself an ethnohistorian or cultural heritage specialist. 

She ran the archaeology program at Historical Research Associates; served as expert witness for the Taos Pueblo Water Rights case, and for the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes on the ARCO lawsuit regarding pollution of the Clark Fork River; and as director of the Regional Learning Project at University of Montana, where she worked with tribes to develop curriculum resources on history, geography, and culture. 

Focusing on several regional stories in her newly published “Disturbing the Sleeping Buffalo,” Thompson will talk about frontiersman William Hamilton, aka “Wildcat Bill,” and his time in the Tobacco Plains; the Glacial Lake and Kootenai origin story; and how Thompson followed the trail of Father De Smet and found a cross that had been installed at the headwaters of the Columbia in 1845. 

Aspen and Cameron Decker present “Our Belongings: Sqelixʷ (Salish) Art and Toolmaking” on Feb. 2.  

Aspen is an enrolled member of the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes, holds a master’s degree in linguistics and a bachelor’s in tribal historic preservation, has taught Salish for more than 10 years, and paints and makes art. Cameron — a Diné, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, and a descendant of the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes — earned a master’s degree in fine arts and, with wife, has more than 20 years’ experience in tribal education. 

For their presentation, the Deckers will speak about the process of making Salish art and tools, the issues that it brings up in regard to making the objects (environment, sustainability, culture), and what that reveals about the place they are in as contemporary Native American people. Their presentation teaches holistic Indigenous understandings about native plants, and connection with the land and local ecosystems.  

This presentation also introduces the science behind these objects, as well as various contemporary Native American artists who influence their work. Together, both speakers incorporate and speak Salish and Plains Sign Language associated with the making of objects during their program. 

The series concludes Feb. 16, with Denny Olson’s presentation, “Glacier National Park: The Little-known Stories Behind the Grandeur.”  

From scientific beginnings as an ornithologist and geologist, Olson forged an unlikely union between science, humor and drama, and established a national reputation as an innovative storytelling performer and educator. 

Since he moved to the Flathead Valley 28 years ago, Olson has written an 88-activity Glacier-Waterton Peace Park curriculum, written the "Nature and Science" section for the Glacier National Park website, and continues to guide and teach in the park today. 

Behind the grandeur of Glacier Park are some fascinating natural history stories that Olson will share with the audience during his presentation.  

All presentations start at 2 p.m. and a social time will be held afterward. 

For 23 years, the museum has organized presentations on many facets of Montana history as part of the series which pays tribute to beloved former staff members John Whites Sr. and Jr. of Central School. The series serves as fundraiser for the museum and its mission to preserve and present regional history. 

Tickets for individual talks are $15 for members, $20 for nonmembers. The four-part series costs $40 for members, $75 for nonmembers. Tickets may be purchased online at https://flatheadtickets.com, at the museum on 124 Second Ave. E., Kalispell, or by calling 756-8381. 

    Sally Thompson presents “Northwest Montana Stories and How They Shape Our Lives.” at 2 p.m. Jan. 19 as part of the Northwest Montana History Museum's John White Series. (Courtesy photo)
  

    Aspen and Cameron Decker present “Our Belongings: Sqelixʷ (Salish) Art and Toolmaking” 2 p.m. Feb. 2 as part of the Northwest Montana History Museum's John White Series. (Courtesy photo)
  

    Denny Olson presents “Glacier National Park: The Little-known Stories Behind the Grandeur” at 2 p.m. Feb. 16 as part of the Northwest Montana History Museum's John White Series. (Courtesy photo)